Down To Earth
by xxstumblingdown
Summary: Flash Simon was just an ordinary boy. Then, everything seemed to slip slowly away from him. All he had left was his friends...and a secret organization that his dad once worked for. This is book 1, Down To Earth in the new series, Flash Shadows.
1. Characters & Background

_Stranglers - _A family of deadly killers and kidnappers; Joey Strangler, Julita Strangler, Jolin Strangler, Joe Strangler, Jolie Strangler

_The Dead Ones - _They're the dead villains; 

Stonesmash **[man who was very strong and could smash and destroy almost anything. renamed himself 'Stonesmash' because of that.]**

Joolee **[korean pretty girl 'Julie' but renamed herself Joolee for some reason. lures males into liking her and the murdering them in cold blood]**

Leo **[russian guy with crazy red hair. suspected to have escaped an asylum. always slaughters his victims into shreds and pieces.] **  
_  
Diimon (dee-mon)- _The ruler of the dimension of the dead. He's very cruel, very cold, but sometimes polite, perhaps because of a foretold death that he is so happy?

_Lightning __**(LIGHT) **__[deceased] - _Flash's dad. Melanie Stringer's husband. Real name is Len, but because of speed, hero name is Lightning Shadows. Shadows because he can never be seen.

_Coral __**(CORE) **__[deceased] - _

VERY pretty, VERY nice, VERY smart hero. Got tricked by Jolie Strangler and died D: Had a boyfriend, Rafael. Forgot her in grief.

_Hurricane __**(HURRI) **__[deceased] - _Very smart and nice hero. Used to have a crush on Coral when alive, and fought with mortal Rafael a lot. Finally let go and Coral died o.0 then Lightning died and then Hurricane died.

_T.H.O.S.E (The Heroes On Something Else)- _This is a organization for the Heroes. The most known are all dead though. Only the Assistants are left.

_Blade Grant- _Somewhat aggressive and mysterious leader of T.H.O.S.E. Never shows his face.

_Hawk Stimon- _One of the Assistants. Very clumsy. Others include Jay, Falcon, Sparrow, Crow, etc birds.

_Jay Whisper- _Quiet yet deadly. One of the best Assistants.

_Sparrow Thorn- _Loves to flirt and is very pretty, attractive. Yet when fighting and defending, can be very aggressive and powerful. One of the rarest female Assistants.

_Crow Strike- _Cold expressions and loves to fight. One of the best Assistants.

_Falcon Milan- _Male. Very funny and playful. Loves to talk to Sparrow and are best friends. One of the Assistants.

_OTHER 'BIRDS' CAN JUST BE MADE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORY. THEY DO NOT NEED TO BE LISTED :)_

_Danielle Murphy (Dani)- _Part of Flash's group. Has a power of reading minds, but never discovered until Blade found them. Insisted to stick with Flash because knew something was up and became one of the Shadow Team.

_Christopher Cayshan (Chris)-_ Part of Flash's group. Has a power of telling the future, but never discovered until Blade found them. One of Flash's best friends and became one of the Shadow Team. Very playful and always gets C's in school.

_Catherine Kligler (Cathy)- _Part of Flash's group. Is a human 'GPS', meaning she can find anywhere at anytime, and always suspected she had that power. Danielle's best friend and stuck to her, then became one of the Shadow Team.

_Ashton Alishan (Ash)- _Part of Flash's group. Has a power of unimaginable smarts, but never discovered until Blade found them. One of Flash's and Christopher's best friends and became one of the Shadow Team. Always had A's in school.

And the one you've all been waiting for...!

_FLASH SIMON/SHADOWS __**(Speedster) - **_Shaggy black hair that seems to stick everywhere just like his father's hair. Has green eyes, can look menacing when necessary. Very helpful with helping other classmates do their work when they don't get something. Has the power of being ultimately strong and lightning fast, just like his father. Misses his father and is called Speedster by friends because they can never see him coming. Walks in the shadows normally for some reason, named team the Shadow Team.

**Background-  
**Before the heroes disappeared, the Stranglers were a family of great heroes. But after an encounter with Stonesmash, another villain, they somehow became evil and started to be especially close to the other heroes.  
Jolie Strangler was Coral Sting's best friend. They did everything together. Then Jolie turned evil and she was assigned on a mission with Coral at the sea. Jolie trapped Coral and drowned her.  
Joey Strangler was loved by everyone. She was so sweet, so kind, so polite. She went on a mission with Lightning Simon/Shadows, and she pushed Lightning into the hurricane they were supposed to stop.  
Joe Strangler and Hurricane Joan were the closest of all heroes. They always felt as if they were...well, childhood friends and that they've been together since forever. Joe knew how to get into the dimension of the dead, and did, then drove Lightning to greatttt anger. Lightning cast lightning on the stop Joe had baited Hurricane to, and Hurricane died.


	2. Prologue

"We need a hero." The chair in front of the big screen turned slowly and revealed a tall man with arrogant seriousness obviously printed across his face. He had a stern, tough face, and sunglasses covered his eyes from being seen. Underneath it..oh, you wouldn't want to know.

"Ha ha ha. You're kidding me, Blade. We don't have any more heroes. Not even one." A short man in front of him cried helplessly, throwing his arms into the air.

"Then get me one, Hawk!" Blade hollered, and stood up, kicking away the chair angrily. He glowered down at Hawk, and Hawk cowered, scared.

"But Blade.." Hawk whimpered. "All our heroes have died. Coral drowned, Lightning got sucked into a hurricane, and Hurricane struck by lightning! The others just...mysteriously disappeared!"

"Because they were captured by the Stranglers! You can't trust those people, never. We learned that the hard way. We need a hero to stop them, Hawk. You know that!" Blade yelled with fury, then frowned. "Wait a minute.." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Didn't Lightning have a son? Wasn't it...Fred or something?"

Hawk cowered when Blade yelled, but then looked up fearfully at him as he quieted down. "No sir, not Fred. It's Flash Simon. He's as fast as lightning, sir. Just like Lightning."

"Hm." Blade rubbed his chin thoughtfully again, this time narrowing his eyes at Hawk. "Can you do it?"

"What? Do what?" This time Hawk was truly afraid.

"Get him. Get Flash to me. I don't care whatever it takes. Just get him to me. We need him. He's our only hope..." Blade trailed off, then looked at Hawk sharply again, his face hardening. "Whatever it takes, Hawk. As soon as possible..."

Hawk nodded, saluting. "Yes sir! I will do whatever it takes!" He bolted out the door, shivering.

Blade sighed, and sat back down. His eyes softened, as if losing all hope, and he turned back to the screen, the light illuminating his haunted face. "Evil is coming..."

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**whoop.  
it's not much, but yeah :P  
chapter one will be a bit longer...  
it's funny how every chapter's gonna be longer than the last one.  
you'll see.**

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE press the green and white button down there and do a review for me! thank you3


	3. Chapter 1

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Annual Cali-National Race!" A man in a formal suit and a bright smile boomed into the microphone happily. He pointed to the runners beside him. "Our contestants are up to 100 and more, so we won't name them all!"

The crowd laughed at the man's joke loudly, but it was so together that it sounded just like only one voice.

"I am Jeremy Kimmins, your host of this race! Now let's welcome our champions last year, Flash Simon, Timmy Strouse, and Renee Primrose!" Three tall teenagers stepped out from behind him, grinning like mad.

The first was a tall and handsome boy, with incredibly shaggy black hair. His eyes were the palest hazel, glittering with excitement. Named Flash, he was one of the legendary runners of the contest.

"This is nothing more than a celebration," The girl, called Renee, mumbled, humming "The Victory Crow", her school's 'anthem'. "Maybe there'll be hurdles, but no more than a pinch. We can do this, the winners are us! Cockle-doodle-do! Go Roosters!"

The other boy, Timmy, smirked out at the crowd and yelled into the mic, "I'm gonna win, no matter what!"

The crowd whooped with excitement.

"Oh ho! Our contestants are mighty excited! Even our crowd wants to run, now don't you all?" Jeremy grinned, and then continued. "Now, when I yell out the mark, you'll all run! Ah, not all, but the contestants." He laughed, and then put on a serious face. "Ready, Steady, Go Cali Runners!"

The contestants bolted off. Flash laughed excitedly as he ran, his legs barely a blur. Timmy and Renee were struggling to keep up with the champion of every year, but they still managed to keep only a few feet behind him.

Contestants panted, exhausted as they approached the finished line. Some collapsed, some looked as if they were about to faint. Yet Flash was the only one who still looked like he had enough strength. Even Renee and Timmy were both looking as if they were going to quit. But they didn't stop.

After a few minutes, Flash looked around, grinning from ear to ear. This was the final minute; the best time to use his ultimate skill. He stopped, giving the other contestants the satisfaction that he had ran out of energy. He tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the others to catch up a few meters.

He pulled out his cooling bottle of water, gulped down a few swallows, then waited on. Finally the others caught on, and he sped off.

Flash let out all his energy, bolting off with incredible energy and power. Feeling as if he could lift up the whole world, he passed through the finish line and the crowd cheered. They waved their banners, congratulating Flash, and Flash grinned back at all of them, thanking them silently for their encouragements.

"And another year's Cali-Race has ended!" Jeremy cheered, and patted Flash on the back. "Good work, bud. Hope to see you all next year!" He handed Flash his golden, glimmering trophy as the other contestants fell to the group in a heap, stepping over the finish line and fainting in the powerful heat.

Flash admired the trophy silently, smiling with a slight curve to his lips; a weak, sad, longing smile. It was his father who trained him to run, and his father had died mysteriously during work. Flash had never knew what his father did, or where he went every morning after his breakfast, but Flash never cared. He only cared about enjoying time with his dad...and now, he was gone. The only joy in his life was gone.

Sure, his mom was still alive. But Mrs. Simon didn't have the same light as Lightning Simon.

He walked home, and knowing that his mom was out for poker with her friends, he wiped the trophy carefully with a cloth before putting it on his glass shelves. The collection was beautiful, but it was all thanks to his dad that he got all of them.

Flash sighed, and tears rolled down his cheeks quietly, but he wiped them away and slipped off his clothes to shower. He was sure his mom didn't want him all sweaty and wet when she got home.

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**can't say it's for all of you, but i almost cried when i wrote the last part.**

again, please review.


	4. Chapter 2

"Flaaaaash!"

"Yeah, 'sup wit the shoutin'?" Flash dashed over, smirking.

"This."

"Right."

Flash bent down and took the wrench from Ash and observed the oven, digesting in every angle's detail. "Hmm.."

Ash smirked. "This troubles you? Then how'd you fix my mom's car, Speed?"

"Er.." Flash stood back up, scratching his head. "I don't know either, dude."

"You're hopeless." Ash shook his head and grabbed the wrench from Flash's grip, rolling down underneath the car and with a few clanks plus a few squeaks, Ash rolled back out and clapped his hands. "Yay me."

Flash raised a brow. "If you could do it yourself, why get me to do it?"

"Because I wanted you to see me do it. Everyone knows you're our custodian's little assistant. You help him fix everything, man." Ash laughed.

"But why me? Why do I have to see you do it?"

"Because of this." Ash reached into his pocket and took out a nearly torn piece of paper. "They're hosting a technician contest thing. Whoever fixes the most things in twenty minutes wins." He put it back in his pocket and put his hands on his hips. "So, do I have potential?"

"First of all...why do you even want to do this? I thought you were more into studying and all that." Flash asked skeptically.

Ash snorted. "You think I would give up my smarts? Beat it!" He leaned in closer to Flash's ear and spoke in a whisper. "The prize is a million dollars."

"Ready, steady...AND LET THE TIMER BEGIN!" The MC yelled into the microphone and stood aside to let the contestants run toward their broken engines and all that.

Flash laughed as he watched Ash struggle with picking up all the tools. But deep inside, he knew he shouldn't be laughing. Ash was doing the wrong thing, being nervous and anxious, so Flash should be actually supporting him. Suddenly, as if a miracle, Ash seemed to find a way to control his anxiety and began to work steadily, slowly catching up to the other people. Sighing in satisfaction, Flash picked up a brochure from the ground and began to read.

HIDDEN GIFT CENTRE

Find your talent that you have never even known of before!

Maybe you think you have one, but this course shall let you uncover more of your god given gifts!

Contact us now at 2910 - GIFT to register!

"Yeah, I definitely need a talent." Flash murmured. Self-consciously, he knew his talent was his incredible speed and his quick adaptation with gizmos. But maybe there was more? He slipped out his phone and began to key in the numbers.

At the same time, back at the T.H.O.S.E. HQ...

"Hawk! Answer the phone!" Blade snapped sharply as he heard the phone ring with its annoying tone.

"Right away, boss!" Hawk scurried over to the phone, tripping twice as he made his way over.

Picking up the phone, he squeaked, "Hello?"

On the other end, there was a familiar voice, but it was more child tone. "Hello? Is this the Hidden Gift Centre?"

"Ah, yes!" Hawk cleared his throat and rumbled deeply. "What may I do for you, child?"

"I would like to reg-"

"Of course! What is your name?"

"Flash Si-"

"Simon, right?"

Hawk heard a gasp come from Flash. "Uh...how do you know?"

"I just know, Simon." Hawk smirked cheekily, hiding a giggle.

"Uh...okay."

Hawk cleared his throat again, resuming to his serious tone. "Your age..?"

"13."

"Alright. Thank you."

Hawk slammed the phone down.

The phone was dead. The man had hung up on him.

"What the heck..?" Flash frowned at his phone, but at the same time the MC was announcing the winners.

"AAAAAAAND ASHTON ALISHAN IS THE WINNER OF OUR CONTEST!"

And before Ash could even reach his best friend and receive a happy congratulations, Flash was dragged into darkness.

Into nothing.

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yay! another chapter!

review please!


	5. Chapter 3

"Hmm? Where's Flash going?" Ash watched as Flash stepped groggily up toward the exit of the stadium. Noticing that he was probably tired of all the loud noise, Ash shrugged...but then hesitated as he took a step the other way. "He wouldn't mind.." He murmured and followed Flash quietly.

On the way, Danielle and Catherine bumped into Flash, and they giggled, blushing, but without even a grunt Flash continued walking.

"What was that?" Catherine frowned, and Danielle shrugged.

Catherine noticed Ash heading over and asked him what was up with Flash, but he shrugged as well. "He left without a word."

"Let's follow him!" Danielle giggled and they all agreed.

"Hey, Ash!" Chris shouted from a distance, and, desperately, Ash widened his eyes and quickly placed a finger on his lips, the universal signal for silence.

Chris shrugged and jogged over to them. "Why the silence?"

Ash gestured to Flash's drunk movements and Chris raised a brow. "He didn't...drink, or anything, right?"

"Are you kidding me? He's underage!" Ash scowled and Chris shrugged again before they continued on their mission to follow their friend.

After a few minutes, they got to a well-hidden building that was wrapped with crawling vines that seemed to climb as high as the building went. As they gazed up in amazement of the building's overwhelming height, a deep rumble came from in front of them, and then a few loud, screeching squeaks followed.

In shock the four teens scattered and each hid behind a tree.

From afar, they could hear a few voices speaking from where Flash was standing, but they couldn't quite make out what. Taking a deep breath of courage, Ash crept forward and dashed to a tree that was closer toward the front of the building. One by one they kept changing trees until it was the last row of trees before the bare clearing that divided the trees and the building.

"...bring him in...useful...test..." Those were the words Ash could hear, but most of the other words were muffled as they were still too far away to hear.

"...agreed...meet...danger..."

After a few more words exchanged, the men returned to the building and Flash continued his steps.

This time, Ash was skeptical about Flash being exhausted and gestured for the others to quickly follow him in.

"Did you hear that? There were kids out there. Probably Flash's friends, but they must have powers, as well, to have followed him here!" Hawk exclaimed to Blade.

"Well, then they were stupid kids. Think about it. Who would follow their friend into zones that no humans could be found?" Eagle snorted.

"It's only because you hate kids that you say that. You don't understand how much kids would do for their friends." Hawk rolled his eyes but then stood stiff again when he caught Blade's piercing glare.

"Be quiet, both of you." Blade narrowed his eyes. "Now listen up. Those kids are here for a reason; to find out what's wrong with their friend, as they probably have noticed that he has been unusually quiet and unusually...drunk."

Eagle felt his face turn red with embarrassment. "I tried my best, but he was so incredibly far away!"

"You should have let me done it." Hawk stuck his nose up high in the air.

"Stop or I'll smash that." Eagle threatened and Hawk stepped back involuntarily.

There was silence, then, in a small, frightened voice, Hawk squeaked, "Blade, you may continue."

Blade sighed and nodded. "Alright." He stepped over to the screen, gesturing to all the different scenes, being recorded from every camera in every corner of the building. "The Dome. The Kiln. The Prison. The Lounge. The Dorms. The Weapons Storage Room. The Weapons Testing Room. Excetra. They will be anywhere in no time. But right now, they are in our Holes Room. Get them out of there before they get hurt."

"YESSIR!" Eagle and Hawk saluted and ran out of the door.

"Woah, what's this?" Chris peered at the buttons on the control board. He was reaching over to push down on a big red button when suddenly Ash bolted over and pushed Chris away from the board, resulting with Chris flying through the air for a few seconds and then crashing down on the floor.

"Ouch," Chris rubbed his head painfully. "I think I have a bruise now."

"Don't touch anything! You don't know what it can do." Ash seethed and stomped off into the other corner of the room that they were investigating.

The room was colored white, blinding white. The walls and floor were cushioned, making it fun for the four to jump around. From afar, the walls looked solid, but if you looked closer, there were holes dug in the wall.

Touching it, Ash realized that the holes weren't holes, they were tunnels. At the other end of the tunnel Ash felt a cold tip; metal. In fear he withdrew his hand quickly and hurried off to join the others.

Danielle was poking around in the control room when she noticed the big red button as well. Curiously, she investigated it, in case there were any labels on it to say what the button was for, but in disappointment, there was none.

Seeing that there was probably no danger in taking this risk, as there was nothing suspicious in the white room, she went along and pushed it down hard.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

"Aaah!" Danielle jumped back, frightened by the sudden noise. She looked up; the ceiling light was flashing red.

"What's happening?" Catherine squealed, and in anger Ash dashed over.

"No!" He groaned.

"W-what did I do...?" Danielle whispered.

"I don't know, but I know that RED means BAD. I thought you had some logic in that brain of yours!" Ash yelled in frustration and desperately, he pushed all the buttons on the board but nothing did any good.

In the white room, Chris didn't know what to do. Frozen with fear, he couldn't move, he couldn't scream, nothing to prevent what was going to happen.

FOOM!

A metal bullet flew past Chris, close to hitting his face. Ducking down, he realized that there were holes in the lower part of the wall too.

"Help!" He yelped, jumping up and down and avoiding the metal pieces.

"Chris, run! Out!" Ash screamed, truly scared that his friend would get shot.

"I'm tryingggg!" Chris squealed.

"Look what we have here."

Ash, Danielle, and Catherine all twisted around and gaped wide at two men. The men who they had just seen at the entrance.

"What have you done to Flash?" Ash challenged angrily.

"No, nevermind Flash. The question is, what have you done to Christopher in there?" The one with the darker hair drawled.

Danielle stole a quick look back at Chris, and he was still avoiding the bullets desperately. Chris mouthing a help, Danielle quickly nodded and turned back to the two men.

"How do you know his name?" Ash narrowed his eyes.

"I said, what have you done to Christopher?" The man huffed.

Ash glared at Danielle. "She pushed the button," He argued.

Sighing, the man headed over to the board and pressed a series of buttons before the bullets inside the white room had stopped. Chris collapsed on the cushioned floor in exhaustion, but the shorter, clumsier-looking one trudged in and dragged the helpless boy out.

"Follow me," The one with the darker hair barked and strode out of the room, not even looking back to check if they had followed him.

"You've got some explaining to do, sir." Ash grumbled.

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loved dat. PLEASEPLEASE review[;


	6. Chapter 4

"Ughh..." Flash moaned groggily. "Where am I...?" His eyes fluttered open and he looked around at his surroundings curiously, realizing that he was lying on the floor with his arms and legs splayed out in different directions awkwardly. The walls were charred smoky black, as if they were once lit aflame. There was a regular sized stove in the middle of the room, the flame blazing ferociously. He could feel the temperature slowly rising, beads of sweat making their way down his neck uncomfortably.

"Flash, huh? Matches your father. Reckon you have the same powers." A gruff voice came from somewhere behind him, and Flash's sight immediately cleared up. He jumped up on his feet, alarmed.

"Who are you?" Flash challenged, feeling his energy come back into him. He now wore an angry scowl- as if this were his territory. "And how do you know my name?"

The voice chuckled. "I know everything about you, Flash Simon."

"Wh-what?" He widened his eyes at the man in front of him, who'd just emerged from the shadows.

Standing over Flash, stood a tall man, purely built of muscle. He looked lethal, with his bulging build and that pair of pitch black sunglasses.

Muscle must have seen the fear in Flash's eyes because he attempted to calm the boy down with an assuring smile..

"I'm sorry…I just wanted to be clear that there's no fooling around here." He grabbed Flash as the boy began to collapse again.

"I'll explain; but first you need a meal to charge you up."

Flash nodded gratefully. He was starving; and he wanted to eat, even if he was looking at a bad guy straight in the eye at the moment.

Muscle clicked his fingers and the door opened. A much shorter man hurried in, with silver trays of plates and plates of food. Flash almost gasped; it was a _miracle _how the little man could carry so much at once.

"Thank you." Flash said to the man with a smile but he only shot him a glance and hurried out the door again.

Flash frowned and turned back to the food. Muscle guffawed. "Eat up." With a 'humph' he pushed the plates toward the boy, and Flash gobbled it down without another word.

After a few minutes, he was done, so questions flooded into his mind as Flash put a hand on his bloated tummy.

"Who are you, first of all? Why am I here? How do you know my name? What else do you know about me?" He sounded like a cop interrogating a suspect, but really, Flash was the prisoner here.

Muscle laughed. "My name is Blade." He paused, as if expecting Flash to ask why, but went on when he realized he wasn't going to.

"A few years ago, there was a man who believed he had special powers. Powers to change the world, powers to help the world. So he formed an organization, named T.H.O.S.E, aka The Heroes of Somewhere Else, gathering all the people who _believed _they had powers. He'd created tests, competitions, trials and all for everybody, in order to see who had real powers.

"There were always some who wimped out and ran away, or, some who were overly confident and didn't realize that their powers were simply illusions. One man thought he could levitate objects just by willing it to, but it was only because his dog had been behind his sofa, trying to reach his chew toy.

"So when one boy, one teenage boy entered the trials, he'd stood out. And the man, the leader, had taken special attention to that boy. It seemed as if he could run, like lightning, and be telepathic with his words. And believe me on this, the leader was shy; he didn't have the confidence to ask the boy of his name…not yet, anyway.

"On the day the boy had done his last trial, the leader finally had the courage. He went up to him, and by surprise, he'd realized that the name was strangely obvious. The boy's name was Lightning Simon."

Flash gasped. "My dad!" Blade nodded but put a finger to his lips.

"Lightning was very bright. And the leader, he put his entire life on the line of commitment to train this boy. As he grew, the leader had noticed that the boy was attracting real heroes to join in the organization. Heroes such as Lithe Lavender, Hurricane, Nyx, Coral, excreta. It was amazing, the quantity that was joining every month.

"But of course, he knew that one day his work would all come to an end. And it did. A few years after he'd passed away due to cancer, one of his closest colleagues decided to turn against the organization. They were, of course, a strong family of five, and it seemed as if they were unbeatable. At the time, Lightning was working overseas with a few others to find out some clues to where the next bad guy was hiding. And the family, with the name of Stranglers, wanted to make Lightning, Hurricane, and Coral die. Because they _knew _that the 'steely three' would stop them.

"And by trickery, they'd won. The family members each took turns to lying to the heroes, luring them to places we'd never had allowed them to go to. Believe me, son, your father did not die such an innocent death."

He looked at Flash, waiting for an approval to go on. He was afraid that he was talking too harshly, but the boy waved his hand, except Blade could see him resisting tears.

"The Stranglers are still present today. They are still alive, and you do not know of the powers they possess. They call to the dead, but they can't revive them. For them to revive past villains, they'll have to go through a special process. But what we don't know is that, what process? Who will be their contacts?"

"We have nobody to work with. No heroes; they've either all left or died in the war between the Stranglers and the organization. That's why we've called to you, Flash. We _know _you can do exceptional things. And perhaps, even your friends."

Flash gasped. "They're here, too?"

Blade nodded. "Any questions, now?" He asked casually.

"So what did you mean, 'we', when you were talking about the heroes being lured..?" He suggested cautiously.

Blade's eyes detached with Flash's, losing eye contact. "I was…I was the leader's son."

The boy widened his eyes, and tried to think of something to say. Something not so close to sympathy, which he could tell, would annoy this man. "I'm sorry..." There was nothing else he'd thought of, anyway.

Blade moved his hand, as if waving the memory away. "Anyway, let's go meet your friends."

* * *

"So that's what." Jay had been put in charge of telling the newcomers the story of the organization and why they were here, while Hawk had been sent off to give Blade and Flash their meal.

"Wow, that's a lot of information," Danielle giggled. She wasn't really listening when Jay was talking; most of the time, she was really staring at Christopher dreamily.

Jay flipped his hair and resisted a snort.

"'kay, so, when do we get to see Flash?" Ash demanded urgently.

Jay smiled, mysterious. His hair hung over his eyes. "Soon enough, Ashton Alishan."

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**holymoly, that was dang awesome.**


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